The Central Russian Upland (also Middle Russian Upland and East European Upland) is an
upland area of the
East European Plain
The East European Plain (also called the Russian Plain, "Extending from eastern Poland through the entire European Russia to the Ural Mountaina, the ''East European Plain'' encompasses all of the Baltic states and Belarus, nearly all of Ukraine, a ...
and is an undulating plateau with an average elevation of . Its highest peak is measured at . The southeastern portion of the upland known as the . The Central Upland is built of
Precambrian
The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of the ...
deposits of the crystalline
Voronezh Massif Voronezh Massif (also Voronezh Anteclise russian: Воронежская антеклиза, or Voronezh Uplift) is a tectonic anteclise in the south of the Central Russian Upland with a high occurrence of the Precambrian basement. It lies to the so ...
.
Location
It spans approximately 180,000 miles² (480,000 km
2) in central and southern
European Russia
European Russia (russian: Европейская Россия, russian: европейская часть России, label=none) is the western and most populated part of Russia. It is geographically situated in Europe, as opposed to the cou ...
northeast of
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
,
extending from the
Oka river
The Oka (russian: Ока́, ) is a river in central Russia, the largest right tributary of the Volga. It flows through the regions of Oryol, Tula, Kaluga, Moscow, Ryazan, Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod and is navigable over a large part of its ...
to the
Donets river
The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets, is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv, Done ...
. The upland stretches across a number of regions in
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
and the European portion of the
Russian Federation
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. Its north and northwest borders are considered to be the
Oka River
The Oka (russian: Ока́, ) is a river in central Russia, the largest right tributary of the Volga. It flows through the regions of Oryol, Tula, Kaluga, Moscow, Ryazan, Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod and is navigable over a large part of its ...
and an imaginary line
Kaluga
Kaluga ( rus, Калу́га, p=kɐˈɫuɡə), a city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast in Russia, stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Population:
Kaluga's most famous resident, the space travel pioneer Konstantin Tsiol ...
-
Ryazan
Ryazan ( rus, Рязань, p=rʲɪˈzanʲ, a=ru-Ryazan.ogg) is the largest city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census ...
. To the southeast towards the
Donets River
The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets, is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv, Done ...
, the upland changes into the
Donets Lowland
The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets, is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv Oblas ...
. To the east its natural border is defined by the
Oka–Don Lowland
The Oka–Don Lowlands (russian: Окско-Донская равнина) (also: Oka–Don Plain), is a flat plain in European Russia, bounded on the north by the Oka River (and the Meshchera Lowlands), on the south by the Don River, on the west b ...
and to the west there is the
Dnieper Lowland
Dnieper Lowland () is a major geographic feature of the Central Ukraine region and the East European Plain.
Location
It lies along the midstream of Dnieper river mostly on its left bank from Belarus all the way to Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The lowlan ...
. Most of the upland lies within the borders of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, hence its name.
History
The
Kostroma
Kostroma ( rus, Кострома́, p=kəstrɐˈma) is a historic city and the administrative center of Kostroma Oblast, Russia. A part of the Golden Ring of Russian cities, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Volga and Kostroma. Popu ...
river and the city of the same name suggest that the area in
Central Russia
Central Russia is, broadly, the various areas in European Russia.
Historically, the area of Central Russia varied based on the purpose for which it is being used. It may, for example, refer to European Russia (except the North Caucasus and ...
is an important reference point for the original home of the
Slavic tribes
This is a list of Slavic peoples and Slavic tribes reported in Late Antiquity and in the Middle Ages, that is, before the year AD 1500.
Ancestors
*Proto-Indo-Europeans (Proto-Indo-European speakers)
** Proto-Balto-Slavs (common ancestors of Bal ...
. The river and city bear the same name as the Slavic goddess
Kostroma
Kostroma ( rus, Кострома́, p=kəstrɐˈma) is a historic city and the administrative center of Kostroma Oblast, Russia. A part of the Golden Ring of Russian cities, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Volga and Kostroma. Popu ...
.
Regions
![Lagekarte Mittelrussische Platte](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Lagekarte_Mittelrussische_Platte.png)
*
Oryol Oblast
Oryol Oblast (russian: Орло́вская о́бласть, ''Orlovskaya oblast''), also known as Orlovshchina (russian: Орловщина) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is th ...
*
Bryansk Oblast
Bryansk Oblast (russian: Бря́нская о́бласть, ''Bryanskaya oblast''), also known as Bryanshchina (russian: Брянщина, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is th ...
*
Kursk Oblast
Kursk Oblast ( rus, Курская область, r=Kurskaya oblast, p=ˈkurskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, ...
*
Belgorod Oblast
Belgorod Oblast (russian: Белгоро́дская о́бласть, ''Belgorodskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Belgorod. Population:
History
At the turn of the 17th cent ...
*
Voronezh Oblast
Voronezh Oblast (russian: Воронежская область, Voronezhskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Voronezh. Its population was 2,308,792 as of the 2021 Census.
Geography
V ...
*
Rostov Oblast
Rostov Oblast ( rus, Росто́вская о́бласть, r=Rostovskaya oblast, p=rɐˈstofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the Southern Federal District. The oblast has an area of and a populati ...
*
Kharkiv Oblast
Kharkiv Oblast ( uk, Харківська́ о́бласть, translit=Kharkivska oblast), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna ( uk, Ха́рківщина), is an oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. The oblast borders Russia to the north, Luhans ...
(Ukraine)
*
Sumy Oblast
Sumy Oblast ( uk, Сумська́ о́бласть, translit=Sumska oblast; also referred to as Sumshchyna – uk, Су́мщина) is an oblast (province) in the northeastern part of Ukraine. Population: The oblast was created in its most r ...
(Ukraine)
*
Luhansk Oblast
Luhansk Oblast ( uk, Луга́нська о́бласть, translit=Luhanska oblast; russian: Луганская область, translit=Luganskaya oblast; also referred to as Luhanshchyna, uk, Луга́нщина) is the easternmost oblast ...
(Ukraine)
Tectonics
The
Voronezh Massif Voronezh Massif (also Voronezh Anteclise russian: Воронежская антеклиза, or Voronezh Uplift) is a tectonic anteclise in the south of the Central Russian Upland with a high occurrence of the Precambrian basement. It lies to the so ...
is part of the
East European Craton
The East European Craton (EEC) is the core of the Baltica proto-plate and consists of three crustal regions/segments: Fennoscandia to the northwest, Volgo-Uralia to the east, and Sarmatia to the south. Fennoscandia includes the Baltic Shield (al ...
and southwesterly descends towards the
Dnieper-Donets Through (Depression) which along with
Prypiat Through forms the
Prypiat-Dniper-Donets aulacogen. Most of the Voronezh Massif is covered with thin layers of
sedimentary deposits
Superficial deposits (or surficial deposits) refer to geological deposits typically of Quaternary age (less than 2.6 million years old). These geologically recent unconsolidated sediments may include stream channel and floodplain deposits, beach ...
of the
Devonian
The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...
,
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...
,
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
, and
Paleogene period
The Paleogene ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning o ...
s. In the southeast along the
Don River
The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire.
Its ...
between the cities of
Boguchar
Boguchar (russian: Богуча́р) is a town and the administrative center of Bogucharsky District in Voronezh Oblast, Russia, located on the Boguchar River (a tributary of the Don), south of Voronezh, the administrative center of the oblast. P ...
and
Pavlovsk (both in
Voronezh Oblast
Voronezh Oblast (russian: Воронежская область, Voronezhskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Voronezh. Its population was 2,308,792 as of the 2021 Census.
Geography
V ...
) the crystalline layers come to the surface. On all sides of the upland the
Precambrian
The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of the ...
deposits descend far below the sedimentary layers. A small part of the upland in the northwest was covered with a glacier during the
Wolstonian Stage
The Wolstonian Stage is a middle Pleistocene stage of the geological history of Earth from approximately 374,000 until 130,000 years ago. It precedes the Eemian Stage in Europe and follows the Hoxnian Stage in the British Isles.
It is also appro ...
. Today almost all of the upland is covered with
loess
Loess (, ; from german: Löss ) is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loess or similar deposits.
Loess is a periglacial or aeolian ...
and loessial
loam
Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...
s.
References
External links
Central Uplandat the
Encyclopedia of Ukraine
The ''Encyclopedia of Ukraine'' ( uk, Енциклопедія українознавства, translit=Entsyklopediia ukrainoznavstva), published from 1984 to 2001, is a fundamental work of Ukrainian Studies.
Development
The work was creat ...
.
Plateaus of Russia
Plateaus of Ukraine
East European Plain
Geography of Sumy Oblast
Geography of Kharkiv Oblast
Geography of Luhansk Oblast
Landforms of Kursk Oblast
Landforms of Belgorod Oblast
Landforms of Bryansk Oblast
Landforms of Voronezh Oblast
Landforms of Rostov Oblast
Landforms of Oryol Oblast
Geology of European Russia
{{South-Russia-geo-stub